


Bound

by thehotinpsychotic



Category: My Chemical Romance
Genre: Frerard, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-08-12
Updated: 2014-08-29
Packaged: 2018-02-12 19:40:44
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 7,251
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2122287
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thehotinpsychotic/pseuds/thehotinpsychotic
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"I should've known I'd always be bound to you."</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

“I hate you,” Gerard snarls.

  
“Gerard Arthur Way, watch your mouth,” Gerard’s mother warns. “You can’t just say things like that as if they mean nothing.”

  
He rolls his eyes, and asks, “So if I really mean it, it’s okay?”

  
His mother sighs, pleading, “Gerard, you’ve got to be realistic here. Last summer you did nothing, and when school came around, you were a mess for the first few weeks. This is simply to prevent that. Besides, it’s not healthy for you to spend so much time holed up in your room. You’re in there practically all day.”

  
“Not all day,” Gerard insists.

  
“Well, with the exception of food runs and bathroom breaks,” his mom admits. She pulls into the campground and turns in her seat to smile back at Gerard, who just holds his stony expression. “You’ll have fun, sweetie. And who knows, maybe you’ll find some new friends.”

  
“I get it; I’m a loser,” Gerard grumbles. He opens the car door, stepping out and grabbing his duffel bag.

  
“Gerard, bye honey,” his mom wishes. “Let me give you a kiss.”

  
Gerard blushes as he leans in for his mother to peck him on the cheek. She ruffles his hair and then drives off, leaving Gerard standing alone on the campground.  
“Howdy there!” a voice booms.

  
Gerard jumps at the greeting, and glares at who had said it; a perky looking man with black dreadlocks. The man looks perpetually stoned, and Gerard doubts if he even knows where he is. It’s not until he notices that he’s wearing a camp counselor regulation polo and a nametag that reads ‘Bert’ that Gerard realizes he actually works there.

  
“Want me to help you get all checked in?” Bert offers.

  
“No thanks,” Gerard murmurs. “I think I’ve got it.” He turns off in the other direction and Bert calls,

  
“Wait! The registration desk is the exact opposite way!”

  
Gerard groans and pivots, pushing past Bert, who decides,

  
“You know, I’ll just make sure you get settled alright. Let’s go see what cabin you’re in.”

  
Gerard curses beneath his breath, not happy to be stuck with the overexcited, excessively extroverted and simplistic character. He still follows him obediently to the desk, where Gerard is given a schedule and told that he’s in bunk 7-A.

  
“Where is bunk 7-A?” Gerard demands, squinting at his schedule.

  
“I’ll show you!” Bert chirps, touching the shoulder of Gerard, who shrugs away and starts walking.

  
They reach the cabin in what is in reality less than five minutes, but what feels like a lifetime to Gerard, who’s doing his best to dodge Bert’s feeble attempts at small talk.  
Even when they reach the cabin, Bert won’t leave him be. He insists on introducing Gerard to the other boys, especially since Gerard’s a new camper. Gerard sulks his way inside, staring at the floor as Bert informs in that megaphone voice of his,

  
“This is your new roommate, Gerard. Don’t be too rough with him, now.” Bert leaves with a wink and a pat on Gerard’s back.

  
Gerard slowly shifts his gaze up to see three boys before him. One is a disinterested boy with dark hair and his nose stuck in his phone, another a kid that just gazes at Gerard, a faint smile playing at his lips, and the last who just stares at Gerard from his spot on the bottom bunk.

  
“Hey,” Gerard greets uneasily.

  
The boy with the dark hair ignores him, tapping at his phone screen and his bunkmate offers a wave. The boy from the bottom bunk just slowly rises and saunters over, demanding,

  
“What’re you supposed to be?”

  
“Excuse me?” Gerard asks.

  
“What do you weigh, 300?” he laughs, shoving Gerard slightly. “I’d let you sleep on the top bunk but I’m afraid you’ll break it.”

  
The other boys repress their snickers, whilst Gerard has to fight back the lump forming in his throat.

“We may as well get along, seeing as we’re going to be roommates.”

  
The boy shakes his head, insisting, “No way am I being nice to a land whale.” He trots back over to his bed, moving everything he had sprawled out on it to the top bunk.

  
Gerard rolls his eyes and takes his place in the newly cleared bottom bed. This won’t be fun.

  
The boy’s face suddenly appears, hanging down from his spot on the top bunk. “Hey, what’s your name again?”

  
“G-Gerard,” Gerard stammers.

  
“My name’s Frank, fuck face,” Frank retorts, snapping back up to his own bed. Gerard sighs, pulling out his I-Pod and earbuds, thinking about how these and comics will be his only escape for the next four weeks.

  
Gerard’s absolutely positive after an entire night of stony silence and verbal abuse from Frank that things can’t logically get any worse, but he is sorely proven wrong when he actually looks at his schedule that next morning at 9:30 a.m. to see that swimming is his very first period.

  
He reluctantly gets into the one pair of swim trunks he owns, changing in the bathroom. Frank and the other boys are changing in the main room, and Gerard’s much too shy to strip in front of them, and just Gerard changing would probably evoke some nasty comment from Frank, which Gerard does not need at the moment. He decides to pull on a shirt over it, knowing that no way in hell is he going swimming.

  
Unfortunately, Gerard is stuck with Frank for the swimming period. He supposes it’s not so bad; Frank is swimming in the lake with the rest of the boys while Gerard just sits on the dock, legs tucked up beneath him.

  
The lifeguard hovers over Gerard, telling, “You’ve got to swim too, kid.”

  
“No way,” Gerard replies. “Ways don’t like water.”

  
The man frowns, stuffing his lip ring into his mouth and biting at is as he contemplates what Gerard had said. “You know what, you’re going in, okay? You can swim, can’t you?”  
“Of course I can swim,” Gerard answers.

  
“Then get in,” he orders, grabbing Gerard’s arm and pulling him to his feet.

  
Gerard yanks his arm away, snarling, “I can get up myself!”

  
Gerard gets splashed with cold lake water, and not even just a little, but so badly that he’s drenched. He turns sharply to see who had done it, just to see Frank smirking in the water. Frank splashes him again, calling,

  
“Hey, what’s got your panties in a bunch?”

  
The rest of the boys laugh, and Gerard blushes as he lowers himself into the water, shirt still on.

  
Frank grins to himself and swims away, ducking beneath the water.

  
Gerard opts to tread water, bored the entire session.

  
That period isn’t let out soon enough, despite the fact that they’re let go twenty minutes early to go back to their cabins to shower and change for their next class. Gerard skips the shower, trading his sopping wet trunks and shirt for some new clothes in the bathroom stall attached their cabin. Gerard isn’t comfortable changing in there; he can hear Frank and the other boys talking as they shower, and he’s really not a fan of any of them. He dresses with fifteen minutes left until he has to leave for arts and crafts, so he lies on his bed, pulling out a comic book from his bag.

  
Frank and the other boys emerge from the showers, towels wrapped loosely around their hips. Gerard keeps his eyes focused on his comic, trying to block out all of the naked teens around him.

  
Gerard glances up momentarily to check the time, but Frank is much more interesting at the moment. The boy’s sitting on one of the beds, one leg crossed over the other tightly. He has this almost pained expression on his face and he’s blushing.

  
“Frank, what’s your deal?” Gerard growls.

  
The other boys instinctively look at Frank, only causing the boy to go redder.

  
“N-nothing!” Frank stammers. “What’s your deal?”

  
“Oh my God,” one of the boys chuckle. “Iero has a fucking boner!”

  
The other two boys burst out laughing, and Frank sits there, beat red and not sure what to do.

  
“Can we see it?” the other boy teases, tugging at Frank’s towel.

  
Frank readjusts his towel, shoving the boy away. “Knock it off; it’s not funny!”

  
“I beg to differ, Frankie,” the kid chortles. He pulls Frank into a headlock, grinding his balled fist into Frank’s scalp.

  
Frank squirms around until he’s free, and the other boys finally leave him alone when he quickly stands and turns to the back corner where he can’t be seen.

  
The other boys dress and leave, and to add insult to injury, one of them calls, “Frank, you might want to wank that one out!”

  
Frank storms over to his backpack, yanking all of his clothes out and chucking them at the floor. He dresses, and Gerard watches in the corner of his eye as he angrily stomps into some shoes. Gerard feels guilty, yet satisfied. He knows that Frank is such a dick that surely he can take some teasing, but it was still Gerard that sold him down the river, even unintentionally so.

  
Frank sits on the bed across from Gerard, his head buried in his knees. Gerard closes his comic book, slowly getting up and starting out of the cabin.  
Frank stands abruptly, grabbing Gerard by the back of the neck and tossing him against a wall. He grips the collar of Gerard’s shirt and nearly lifts the heavier boy off the ground as he spits,

  
“This is your fault, you little shit.”

  
Gerard shrugs, replying calmly, “I’m not the one that popped a boner for no reason, now am I?”

  
Frank chuckles hotly, no mirth behind it. “You fucking humiliate me, huh? I’ll make your life here fucking Hell.” Frank turns Gerard over, and Gerard immediately feels he knows what Frank’s going to do. Gerard struggles, but his stomach is so tight to the wall as Frank’s knee is in his back, holding him in place. Frank brings his hand beneath Gerard’s jeans, resurfacing with a fistful of Gerard’s pink Calvin Kleins.

  
Frank yanks Gerard’s underwear up his back until the bell rings, which makes him finally let him go. Gerard is crying from embarrassment, his face pressed into the wall.

  
Frank leans in close, whispering, “See how easy I got you crying? This will be fucking easy.”

  
Frank heads outside, and Gerard holds his breath until he’s sure Frank’s out the door.


	2. Chapter 2

Gerard shows up to that period with swollen red eyes fresh from crying, and this doesn’t necessarily go unnoticed, but no one cares enough about him to say anything.

  
Gerard mopes through the class, dragging his pencil lazily across his paper. This is the one time that drawing can’t fucking fix it, and it’s leaving him confused and scared.  
Gerard prays that he doesn’t have any other periods with Frank, but alas, no such luck. Gerard’s stuck with Frank for yet another period, creative writing.

  
He avoids Frank for as long as he can, but when the counselor splits them into pairs of two, she assigns Gerard with Frank. The two are supposed to write a story together, and Gerard is so not psyched when Frank stomps over, throwing himself bodily into the chair across from Gerard.

  
“Look,” Frank grumbles. “I’ll cooperate, but don’t fucking fall in love with me or some shit.”

  
“Don’t flatter yourself,” Gerard scoffs.

Frank sits there quietly, fiddling with his pen. “So, I guess we should make our protagonist.”

  
“Boy or girl?” Gerard asks, ripping a sheet of paper from his notebook. He sketches a head, and gazes over at Frank expectantly.

  
“Can they be a transgendered boy?” Frank murmurs.

  
Gerard raises an eyebrow. “Transgendered boy?”

  
“Yeah,” Frank proceeds. “You know, someone who is physically a girl but identifies as a boy.”

  
“Okay,” Gerard decides. “What should her- um-  _his_  name be?”

  
“How about their birth name is Mackenzie, but they like to be called… Kyle,” Frank suggests, his voice wary.

  
“Sure,” Gerard replies. “Let’s make them fifteen years old.”

  
“And the conflict of the story?” Frank questions.

“We’ll have it be a short story. How about…” Gerard begins.

  
“Can it be about bullying?” Frank asks.

  
Gerard frowns, growling, “Well, it is something you know plenty about.”

  
Frank doesn’t actually get pissed, but just bows his head. He swings his feet, picking at his hands as he confesses, “Gerard, I’m really sorry I was so mean to you.”

  
“So, you won’t do it again?” Gerard inquires hopefully.

  
Frank’s brows knit, and he admits, “I can’t promise that.”

  
Gerard’s expression turns angry as he spits, “Fuck you, Frank. You’re an asshole.”

  
“Eat shit,” Frank retorts quietly.

  
“You know what, I’ll write the goddamned paper and just put both of our names on it,” Gerard declares.

  
“Fine,” Frank replies. “I wouldn’t want to work with a disgusting fatass like you anyways.”

  
“At least I’m not fucking popping boners, pervert,” Gerard snaps. He writes furiously, giving Frank the finger with his free hand. The rest of the class is spent in stony silence, Frank pouting at the ground, and Gerard’s pen scratching at the paper madly.

Frank makes sure each and every one of his roommates are sound asleep before tiptoeing out of the cabin. He sneaks his way across the campground, walking slowly as not to walk into the side of a cabin. He passes one of the counselors’ houses with extreme caution, snaking through the grass on his hands and knees, not taking the risk of waking anyone up with the crunch of his footsteps. He’s about to the woods, so close to being home free when he smacks into something hard.

  
He’s knocked back on his ass, and his hand gropes in his pocket wildly for a flashlight. Just as his hand closes around his phone, a light is shone in his face, causing him to squint into the brightness.

  
“Well, well, well, looks like we caught us a little faggot, boys,” a voice sneers.

  
Frank immediately recognizes the voice as Tanner’s, his main tormentor. He springs to his feet and turns to run, but he’s grabbed by the forearm tightly, rooted to his spot.  
“Don’t even think about running,” Tanner threatens.

  
“Look, I really don’t have time for this,” Frank pleads. “Please, just let me go and kick my ass tomorrow.”

  
Tanner laughs incredulously. “You trying to hold a bargain, Iero? Ten bucks says that tomorrow you’ll act like the pussy you are and hide from us and we won’t get to you.”

  
“No, no,” Frank begs. “Seriously, I will fucking  _approach_  you tomorrow,  _if,_  you let me go tonight.”

  
“I dunno, gays are sneaky,” Tanner smirks. “What’re you doing out past your bedtime, anyways?”

“I… I…” Frank stammers dumbly.

  
Tanner tackles Frank, tossing his flashlight to the side and pinning the younger boy to the ground. He digs into Frank’s front pocket, ignoring the boy’s cries of protest.  
“I got it! Got his phone!” Tanner cheers, tossing it back to his friends. “Check his messages.”

  
One of the other teens, Aubrey catches it. He swipes his way to Frank’s messages, clearing his throat before reading out loud,

  
“Frank, how is summer camp going? Remember, Mommy loves you.”

  
The boys all laugh, and Frank’s grateful that they can’t see his scarlet face in the darkness of the night.

  
“Keep looking!” another encourages.

  
Aubrey continues to dig, quickly finding what he was really looking for. He reads, “Frank, make sure none of your bunkmates know about this. Sneak out after lights out, and find your way to the woods. We can hang out for a bit, and if you’re good, maybe I’ll give you a handjob.”

  
The boys all snicker, and Aubrey claims,

  
“Since Iero is incapacitated, I will do the liberty of responding to the text.” He reads his words out loud as he types, “Fuck you, you fucking freak. I was playing you this entire time. Leave me alone.”

  
Frank starts to cry, and Tanner takes note of this, calling out, “Iero’s fucking crying!”

  
“We’ll give you something to cry about,” Tanner growls, standing. He pulls Frank to his feet by the collar of his shirt and hauls him to a public bathroom, locking the door behind him and his friends. They all corner Frank, who proceeds to ball up on the floor, clutching his knees to his chest.

  
He’s picked up by two of the boys, who carry him over to a stall, which is when Frank starts to kick and scream. He yells, for a counselor, another camper, anyone.

  
But it’s no use, and the boys manage to tilt Frank’s head into the toilet, despite the fact that Frank tries his best to keep away.

  
He hears it flush and feels the waves through his hair. They dunk his head further, and he’s totally unprepared to be completely submerged, so he starts coughing and gagging almost instantly. It’s a few more dips until they finally take him out, tossing him to the ground. They leave him, drenched from the neck up, on the cement bathroom floor, dropping his phone into the toilet on their way out.

  
Frank stops his sobbing, picking himself up slowly. He leaves his phone there, figuring its useless now. His mom will kill him, but that’s the least of his concerns now. He slumps back to his cabin, opening the door to see Gerard sitting upright in bed, facing Frank.

  
He’s so shocked he almost squeals, but manages to keep himself quiet so as not to waken his other roommates.

  
“Where were you?” Gerard demands. “And you’re wet, plus I can smell you from here. You smell like piss.” He’s quiet for a moment, looking down at Frank expectantly.

  
Frank’s too upset to argue at the moment, so he just shrugs his shoulders, pulling off his sopping wet shirt.

  
“Bullshit you don’t know; people don’t come waltzing in at one a.m. reeking of piss, dripping wet, and not knowing how it happened,” Gerard continues.

  
“I don’t want to talk about it, okay?” Frank replies. He pulls his pants to his ankles, stepping out of them and crossing the room to his dresser.

  
“Can you stop fucking stripping and tell me what really happened?” Gerard barks, causing one of the boys to stir in their sleep.

  
Frank shushes him, hissing, “You’re going to fucking wake them up!”

  
“And you’ll be the one with explaining to do,” Gerard reasons.

  
Frank shakes his head, putting on a clean shirt. He turns his back to Gerard as he slips out of his boxers as well, changing into a clean pair. “It’s none of your business, piss ant.”

  
“Au contraire,” Gerard responds. “You are the one with the stench of urine.”

  
Frank rolls his eyes, ignoring Gerard and stepping into the bathroom.

  
“What are you doing?” Gerard asks.

  
“Taking a shower,” Frank replies. “You should too; you fucking smell all the time.”

  
“I don’t want to,” Gerard answers simply.

  
Frank pokes his head out of the bathroom, questioning, “Why not?”

  
Gerard is silent, his cheeks pink. Frank’s stomach drops as he realizes, “You don’t want to be called fat, do you?”

  
“Shut up,” Gerard mumbles.

  
“Fat…. Fat isn’t an insult, you know,” Frank tells.

  
“I said shut up,” Gerard growls. “Just shut your fucking trap for once, Frank.”

  
Frank nods, looking up at Gerard with red eyes. “I’m sorry. I am.”

  
“Then why do you keep doing it?” Gerard says, a tear dropping down his cheek. He wipes it away quickly, glancing at Frank to see if he noticed, which he totally did, but pretends not to.

  
“I don’t know,” Frank answers honestly. “I just… I get so angry sometimes.” “At me?” Gerard asks, his voice small.  
Frank smiles, shaking his head. “No, not at you.”

  
“Then don’t take it out on me,” Gerard suggests. “Face whoever you’re mad at.”

  
“I can’t,” Frank replies.

  
“Why not?” Gerard asks.

  
“There’s four of them."

Gerard is quiet, scratching at a bug bite on his arm. “Why are you being bullied?”

  
Frank peers down at the floor, face red. “It’s only because I’m gay.”

  
Gerard’s surprised, and it must show in his face, because Frank is quick to snap,

  
“I can’t fucking help it, you know. I would rather be anything than fucking gay. I’d rather be dead.”

  
“Don’t say that,” Gerard pleads.

  
“I would. I’d be fucking happier if I wasn’t a fag. Why do I have to be gay? Everyone else gets to be fucking normal, everyone else gets to be happy, why can’t I?” Frank weeps, tears streaming down his face. “I’ve spent all of my fucking life being tormented, and I’ve done nothing except be myself. I’m fucking thirteen years old and I want to die, and it’s not fair!”

  
“Frank,” Gerard says quietly.

  
“What?” Frank demands.

  
“Being straight isn’t what’s normal,” Gerard answers. “It’s only what’s common.”

  
“I don’t give a shit, all I know is that I’d rather have cancer than be the way I am,” Frank continues. “There’s no way to get away from it; there’s no escape, and it fucking sucks.” He slumps to the floor, burying his face in his knees as he cries, “I just want to go away.”

  
Gerard whispers, “Frankie.”

  
Frank looks up, his golden eyes red and swollen.

  
“There’s a few things I learned in life,” Gerard explains. “And that is, clean your wounds when you cut yourself, don’t take anyone’s bullshit, love what you are, and clean your wounds when you cut yourself again.”

  
Frank murmurs, “I’m going to go take a shower.”

  
Gerard offers a wave, but Frank just droops his shoulders and leaves the room.


	3. Chapter 3

Gerard prays that Frank and his heart to heart will overrule any negative feelings that they had previously had for each other.

 

Again, Gerard has overestimated Frank Iero. It’s just the next morning, already Frank’s being pestered by the two other boys.

 

They’re still teasing him about how he had gotten a boner, and he’s just as red as he was the first time, if not redder. Gerard’s minding his own business, trying to finish their paper for the creative writing class (Frank did contribute again the night before after his shower, but Gerard was still so behind after trying to write it himself).

 

One of the boys tries to pull Frank’s pants down, and Frank’s immediate response is to drive the attention away from himself by calling,

 

“Gerard, get the fuck off my bed.”

 

Gerard realizes that he had perched on Frank’s bunk without noticing, more worried about finishing the paper than whose bed was whose. “Why?”

 

“Because I don’t want a fatass like you breaking it,” Frank spits. “Now fucking get off before I kick your ass.”

 

Gerard hops down, deciding that he’s not going to take Frank’s shit anymore. He doesn’t care if it’s just an insecurity thing; that doesn’t give him a pass to fucking humiliate him in front of other kids.  He pushes Frank’s chest, growling, “You really think you can take me?”

 

Frank’s voice trembles as he replies, “Yeah, I know I can.”

 

“Prove it,” Gerard orders, shoving Frank again, much harder than the first time.

 

Frank curls up his fists, not wanting to fight. “No.”

 

Gerard scoffs, “Are you afraid of me? You little bitch?”

 

The other boys are snickering, their wide eyes glued to Frank, waiting for him to pounce on Gerard.

 

But Frank doesn’t, just stands there. He finally pushes past Gerard, who grabs Frank by the arm and yanks him back, punching him squarely in the jaw.

 

Frank’s almost knocked to the ground, but he manages to stay on his feet. He stumbles, hand flying up to where he’d been struck. He then launches himself at Gerard, finding it easier than he thought to take the larger boy to his feet. He takes a few swipes at him, but only makes contact a couple times before he’s pulled off by the other boys, who clap a hand over Frank’s mouth, which is spewing obscenities.

 

“Do you want to get kicked out of camp!?” one of the boys hisses.

 

“Yeah, shut the fuck up, Iero!” the other whispers furiously.

 

Frank squirms from their grasp, composing himself. He leaves the cabin, still grumbling under his breath.

 

Gerard groans as he pulls himself to his feet, fixing his shirt. It’s not even first period yet, and already he’s been caught in a fight.

 

“Hey, Gerard,” one of the boys says. “Way to stand up for yourself, really.”

 

Gerard grins, and tries to hide this by scratching his nose. He is actually able to change with the other boys into his swim trunks. At this rate, he may even be able to shower later.

He and Frank avoid each other for the periods they have together, exchanging occasional sour glares.

 

It’s not until their recreational period that the two even speak in front of the other. Gerard’s lying in the grass by the basketball court, a novel cracked open in front of him. He’s of course stealing occasional glances at some of the shirtless boys playing the game. God bless shirts vs. skins.

 

Frank is on the shirts team, and Gerard finds himself to be disappointed at that fact. He sees him dribbling down the court, playing point guard, and it catches his interest for some reason.

 

Frank makes it down to the three point line, and he’s got his hip stuck into the other boy’s stomach, guarding the ball. The boy playing against Frank is an older one, and he’s been known to play dirty. Gerard is thinking about this just as the boy yanks Frank’s basketball shorts to his ankles.  

 

Frank turns scarlet and immediately drops the ball, fumbling to get his shorts back up. For the meantime, he’s standing in his black briefs as the other boy steals the ball, bolting down the court and making an easy layup.

 

Frank’s got his shorts back on, and he stammers, “That’s… that’s not fair!”

 

The other kids are all laughing too hard to agree or disagree, so Frank continues,

 

“That’s like a foul, isn’t it?”

 

“Iero, shut up,” a kid snaps.

 

“Yeah, don’t get your panties in a wad,” another calls, making all of the boys laugh harder at Frank’s expense.   
The game picks up eventually, and Frank’s still pink in the cheeks as he guards his kid, the one who had pulled his bottoms down in the first place. The boy passes it to a teammate, again brings Frank’s shorts to the ground in order to move around him, catch a pass, and make a shot.

 

Frank being embarrassed is apparently just as funny as it was the first time, and he almost looks like he’s going to cry.

 

Gerard snaps, and stands up, marching over to the court. He swipes the ball from the boy who’d humiliated Frank and tosses it all the way into the woods, causing each boy to stop laughing and tense up.

 

“Fuck you, asshole!” Gerard barks. “You think you can treat him like that?”

 

“It’s called a joke, fatass,” the boy snarls. He shoves Gerard, adding, “Maybe you should learn to take one.”

 

“That’s not a fucking joke, he’s almost crying!” Gerard spits. “You’re a fucking joke.”

 

“What are you, his boyfriend?” the boy demands.

 

“Ooooooh,” the boys all say in unison.

 

Gerard blushes, and clenches his fists, retorting, “Well, what if I was?”

 

The kid laughs, answering, “Well, I wouldn’t be afraid of either of you, seeing as you’re a whale and Iero’s a faggot.”

 

Frank turns off in the other direction, practically sprinting for their cabin.

 

Gerard shoots the kid an icy glare before chasing after Frank, ignoring the boy’s yell of,

 

“Yeah that’s right, run like the little girl you are!”

 

By the time Gerard makes it to the cabin, Frank’s already inside, his sobs resonating. Gerard eases open the door slowly, stepping inside and closing it softly behind him.

 

Frank’s huddled up in the corner, his knees tucked to his chest and his head buried. His shoulders are shaking as he weeps, and it’s this awful, broken sound that’s coming out. Each cry stabs Gerard’s gut, because he hasn’t heard someone cry so genuinely since elementary school.

 

“Why…why does everyone hate me?” Frank asks, not looking up. “I’m the only one allowed to.”

 

Gerard hangs by the doorway, pleading, “Don’t say that. They don’t hate you; they’re just dumb boys. Don’t pay them any mind.”

 

“Boys hate me,” Frank whimpers. “But I love them. I’m fucking doomed.”

 

“Really,” Gerard persists. “A lot of them are dumb at this age, that’s all.”

 

“I fall for anyone who treats me like shit,” Frank cries. “I hate it.”

 

Gerard shrugs, admitting, “I don’t know what to tell you, Frank.”

 

Frank is silent, so Gerard proceeds,

 

“I’ll just tell you my rules. Rule one-”

 

“Clean your wounds when you cut yourself,” Frank interrupts. He finally looks up at Gerard and gives a smile. And it’s not a pretty smile, it’s a lopsided, try-hard, fucked up smile. But it’s an honest smile, and that’s one Gerard’s happy to take. 


	4. Chapter 4

It’s 12:00 a.m., and Gerard’s lying awake in bed, thinking about a lot of things, but mostly Frank. Gerard nearly jumps out of bed when he hears Frank’s voice from the top bunk ask,

“Gerard?”

“Yeah?”

“You’re awake, right?” Frank questions tentatively.

Gerard giggles, “Well, if I was, I’m not now.”

 

Frank chuckles, and Gerard has to control the urge to laugh with him when he hears Frank’s girly laughing.

“So, Gerard,” Frank continues. His voice is serious as he asks, “Why’d you stick up for me today?”

Gerard shrugs, answering honestly, “I don’t know. I guess that when you see injustice it’s your primal instinct to put a stop to it.”

Frank nods in the dark, and adds, “Well, thank you. Really, it means a lot.”

“If it makes you feel any better,” Gerard begins. “I thought you looked really cute in your underwear.”

Gerard can almost sense Frank’s blushing. Frank is quiet for a while, but finally mumbles,

“You never told me you were gay.”

“That’s because I’m not,” Gerard replies.

Gerard can practically see Frank’s confused face, it’s just so obvious. “What… but…”

“I’m pansexual,” Gerard tells. “So, I like boys, I like girls, I like anything in between, and I like anything outside of that gender wise.”

Frank questions, “Well, isn’t there only boys and girls?”

Gerard laughs, replying, “Oh, Frankie, you have so much to learn about self-identity.”

“I don’t like to label myself,” Frank decides. “I don’t care. I am what I am and I don’t give a damn.”

Gerard again giggles, admitting, “That was pretty good. But I like to be labeled, personally. I need to be able to characterize things in order to process them.”

“So you’re the technical thinker, huh?” Frank asks. “My mind’s a bit more subjective.”

Gerard nods, and after a while suggests, “Frank, do you know what we should do?”

Frank sits up in bed, peeking out over the railing and into Gerard’s bunk. “What?”

Gerard giggles at Frank’s head hanging upside down like that, but manages to continue,

“We should go out to the lake.”

Frank frowns, cocking his head. “I thought you hate swimming.”

“Well, not really,” Gerard murmurs. “I actually really like it.”

Frank knits his brows, asking, “Then how come you refused to the first day?”

Gerard shrugs, admitting, “I knew you’d call me fat or something.”

Frank is quiet, and apologizes, “I’m sorry about all that, really. I just…. I told you, I get mad.”  
“Don’t take it out on me anymore,” Gerard orders. “I’m not going to let you fuck with me again.”

“Fair enough,” Frank decides.

There’s a pause, and Frank recoils back onto his own mattress because the blood had begun to rush to his head.

“So are we swimming, or what?” Gerard questions.

Frank giggles, and climbs out of bed, heading down the ladder. Gerard swings his legs over the side and stands, following Frank outside into the dark.

Frank pulls his phone from his pocket, using its light as a guide as they make their way across the campground.

As they step out onto the dock, Frank warns, “Careful, at the fourth board it creaks.”

Gerard raises a brow. “You’re done this before?”

“Well, yeah, with this other kid,” Frank confesses.

“Where are they now?” Gerard wonders.

Frank’s mind flashes back to Aubrey texting him and then dumping the phone in the toilet. “That’s not important.”

Frank begins to strip, peeling off his shirt, which was stuck to his back with sweat. He slips out of his pajama bottoms as well, balling them up and tossing them to the side. He’s standing there in his briefs, watching Gerard hesitantly step out of his pants, leaving him in his t shirt and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle boxers.

“Don’t you want to take your shirt off?” Frank questions.

Gerard grips the hem of his shirt, then drops it, shaking his head. “No. I’m fine, really.”

Frank shrugs, muttering, “Suit yourself.” He proceeds, “But these bad boys are going away,” as he slides his briefs down to his ankles.

Gerard turns crimson, practically breaking his neck as he snaps it away so fast, and slapping a hand clumsily over his eyes. “Why, why?!”

Frank stands there grinning, kicking his leg up to let his underwear go flying. “I’m not getting my clothes wet. This way, when I’m done swimming I have something dry to get into.”

“I…. I don’t want to swim naked,” Gerard stammers.

“Who said you have to?” Frank points out. He smiles, and goes sprinting off the dock, jumping into the lake.

 Gerard opens his eyes slowly, gazing out at the water. He watches Frank surface, sees him, even in the dark, run a hand through his sopping hair.

“C’mon, Gerard, the water’s not bad!” Frank insists, swiping a wave towards Gerard, who has to hide a shriek when he’s hit by the cold.

Gerard inches towards the end of the dock, dipping a few of his toes into the water. He lowers himself gradually, sinking further and further into the lake. Finally, he’s all in, and he begins to wade around, whispering, “Frank?”

Frank surfaces once more, spitting a stream of water at Gerard. “You rang?”

Gerard wipes his face and dunks Frank, letting the smaller boy go as soon as he begins to struggle.

Frank pops back out of the water, gasping slightly. He grins, flinging himself at Gerard, sending both of them beneath the gentle waves.

They come up sputtering, but giggling at the same time.

Gerard suddenly becomes all too aware of the fact that Frank is naked, and he turns away to hide his reddening cheeks.

Frank doesn’t notice; he’s floating on his back, his prince parts fully exposed. He either doesn’t realize this or doesn’t give a shit, and Gerard would put a good amount of money on either bet.

They hang out for a bit more, until finally, Gerard pulls himself out, shivering in the night’s coolness. He huddles up as much as he can, wrapping his arms around himself for some warmth.

Frank pouts and swims over, asking, “Are we done already?”

Gerard, teeth chattering, responds, “Y-yeah.”

Frank begins to hoist himself out of the lake, and Gerard does the favor of looking in the other direction until he’s stepped into his clothes.

They make it back to the cabin shivering, dripping messes. Frank immediately takes off all his clothes once again, and Gerard whispers as he screws his eyes shut,

“Frank you’re stripping like you’re getting paid to lately.”

“I’m not?” Frank jokes, crossing the room bare assed. He gets to his dresser, putting on some fresh underwear and pajama bottoms. He remains shirtless, yawning. “I’m going to bed.”

“I’m still cold,” Gerard murmurs, ducking his head. He pries his sticky wet t shirt off, hanging it up from the dresser knob. He puts on a clean one as fast as he can, and a sweatshirt, too. He goes to the bathroom to change underwear and put on some lounge pants, and he wanders back into the main room, climbing up the ladder to Frank’s bed.

“Frank?”

Frank gazes over sleepily, his hazel eyes droopy and blurred. “Mmm?”

“Can…. Are you warm?” Gerard asks.

Frank nods, mumbling, “I’m really hot, actually, hence the no shirt.”

“Would it be alright if I lay with you?” Gerard questions. He gets embarrassed, and adds, “Just… you know, just until I’m warm.”

“S-sure,” Frank stammers. “If- if you’re cold, well, we’ve got to get you warm somehow.”  
“Right,” Gerard agrees, easing into bed with Frank.

The two lie there, at first as far apart as the bed frame allows, and then with the tips of their toes touching, after that, their legs are twined together, and finally, rib cage to rib cage as they cuddle.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks so much for reading! Please comment, and leave a kudos if you enjoyed it! I should be updating soon.


	5. Chapter 5

Gerard doesn’t mean to fall asleep. He really doesn’t. Frank was the first to nod off last night, and Gerard was going to go back down to his own bed, but he didn’t want to wake Frank. He decided he’d let him sleep for a while, get into a deep rest, and then slip out from beneath him, and Frank wouldn’t notice a thing.

But fuck, the sound of Frank’s breathing was just so soothing, and every rise of his stomach into Gerard’s was like a shot of morphine.

Gerard was out cold in minutes.

Which was totally fine, except for the fact that the next morning, their two cabin mates catch the two boys snuggling together in their sleep, completely unaware.

The snickering grows so loud that it wakes Frank up, who takes a few moments to adjust to the situation. He kicks away from Gerard, almost falling off the bunk as he scrambles to get away, waking up the boy in the process.

“Fucking faggots!” one of them laughs. “Look, Iero’s shirtless, too!”

“Who took it in the ass?” the other questions. “Now’s the time to raise your hand.”

Gerard just sits there, bracing himself motionlessly. He’s used to emotional abuse; he just hopes that the boys don’t get physical. Gerard decides to do what he always did at school; sit quietly, and then wait for the bullies to get bored with you. And about half of the time, he walks out unscathed.

Frank’s having none of that silent shit though. He insists, “We didn’t do _anything!”_

“Then where’s your shirt, you freak?” the boy demands. He grabs Frank by the hair, pulling his head forward to meet his eyes. “You’re fucking disgusting, you know that?”

“Bring Iero down here,” the other orders.

“Gladly.”

Frank’s lifted right out of bed and tossed to the floor harshly. He tries to crawl away, but a foot is planted hard against the base of his spine, and he cries out in pain.

“Don’t let him get away!”

They pin Frank to the floor, reaching down the back of his pants and bringing his Marvel boxers up his back.

Frank turns beat red, and he squirms uncomfortably, pleading, “Stop!”

They don’t quit, only continue to pull on his underwear, but harder. Gerard is conflicted, sitting up in bed, but unsure of what to do. If he goes down there, that just means that the boys will target him, right?

Gerard doesn’t have any time to react; the bell rings and Frank is released. One of the boys smirks,

“You’re saved by the bell, Iero.”

Frank remains on the floor, whimpering slightly into the wood.

Gerard gets up, changing quickly into his swim suit, even in front of Frank. He knows that if he doesn’t hurry he’ll be late, so there’s no time to be bashful and hide away in a stall to change. “Frank, come on. We’ll be late.”

Frank sits up, wiping his nose on his forearm. “I don’t want to.”

“You have to, come on,” Gerard urges, grabbing Frank’s arm.

Frank breaks free, muttering, “Don’t tell me what to do.”

“Fine,” Gerard replies. “You’ll be the one in trouble.”

“I’ll just say I’m sick or something,” Frank calls as Gerard leaves.

Gerard gets back to the cabin after his final period to see Frank in bed, trying way too hard to look ill. He’s surrounded by wadded tissues, and he looks perpetually annoyed. “Hey.”

“Hi,” Gerard responds. He sets his bag down on his bottom bunk, and begins to climb up to Frank’s mattress when he stops, knowing that this will only evoke more ridicule from their cabin mates, which is the last thing he wants at this juncture.

He slumps on his own bed, and asks,

“Frank, you will go to class tomorrow, right?”

Frank shrugs. “I dunno. I just want to leave.”

“You don’t think I wanted to?” Gerard challenges. “It’s not that simple, Frank. Sure, I’d like to quit everything that causes me problems, but if I did, there wouldn’t be anything left to do.”

Frank considers this, lying in bed. “All I know is I hate it here. You’re the best part of this fucking camp.”

“I… I am?” Gerard questions, unable to hide his smile or prevent himself from blushing.

“Of course,” Frank answers. “I hate everyone and everything else. You’re the only perk of this Goddamn place.”

“I could say the same for you,” Gerard counters. “I don’t really have any other friends.”

“We’re…. friends?” Frank asks.

Gerard realizes what he had said, and the fact that he hadn’t even thought of it, that his brain automatically defaulted Frank as a friend. “Y-yeah. I guess so.”

The two boys lie there, completely silent. Gerard’s about to strike up a conversation again when their cabin mates come into the room, laughing obnoxiously as they enter.

Gerard pretends to be asleep; shutting his eyes and steadying his breathing.

Unfortunately, Frank lies there wide awake, and the other two boys make note of this.   
“Hey, Iero, I bet you’re aching for another wedgie, right?” one questions.

Frank blushes and shakes his head, murmuring, “No.”

“Get down here so we can give you one,” the other orders. “If not, we’ll just climb up there.”

“Please, just let me go to sleep,” Frank begs. “I’m sick.”

“More like you’re a pussy that can’t take a few hits,” one of them challenges. “God, we didn’t even punch you, and you fucking play hooky. You are _such_ a woman, Frank.”

“Yeah,” the other agrees. “Just go fuck yourself, Iero, you giant wuss.”

The two go to bed without touching Frank or his underwear, and Frank’s thankful for that, especially because his favorite boxers were stretched out enough by those two that morning.

He’s exhausted; perhaps faking illness really does take it out of you. He yawns, and hears a whisper,

“Do you think they’re asleep?” below him.

Frank grins, knowing it’s Gerard. “Yeah.”

Gerard reaches a hand up next to Frank’s, and Frank can just picture Gerard sitting up in bed, stretching as far as he can just to get his fingers close to Frank. Frank strokes Gerard’s palm before Gerard withdraws, telling,

“Goodnight, Frank.”

Frank wants to tell Gerard he loves him, he really does. About twenty percent of him is afraid that their cabin mates have actually been listening in the entire time, but the other eighty percent is terrified that Gerard won’t love him back. “Night.”


End file.
